More than 1 150 Bulgarian students are trained through work in Bulgarian enterprises under an Austrian project. Today the Minister of Economy and Industry Nikola Stojanov and the Ambassador of Austria to Bulgaria H. E. Andrea Ikić-Böhm visited one of the companies involved in the dual training programme — Gebrueder Weiss. This is the oldest transport company in the world, which has been operating a logistics centre in Bulgaria for 30 years.
‘Bulgaria needs to give a serious boost to dual training at national level. Therefore it is very important to study the best practices and to solve the existing problems’, Minister Stojanov stressed. In his words, the Austrian GODUAL project provides a very positive example. He also talked to the 15 students who are being trained through work at the enterprise. All of them said that the knowledge they are gaining is extremely useful and they have the ambition to make it in the logistics sector. The Executive Director of Gebrueder Weiss EOOD, Marieta Grigorova, said that their company not only actively participates in the project, but will also give the students the opportunity to start working after graduation, providing them with the opportunity to continue their higher education if they so wish.
‘There are many positive examples in Bulgaria and they should be studied and used, including in the development of a strategy with a clear horizon for the mass integration of dual training’, Nikola Stojanov said. He also commented that over the years the Ministry of Economy and Industry has created an information database of enterprises and schools that participate in dual training, but its scope has remained too limited. ‘The main priority is to create a working mechanism, because properly trained personnel will not only be effectively implemented on the labour market, but this is also a prerequisite to keep more young people in Bulgaria,’ the Minister of Economy further stressed.
‘Dual training is very popular in Austria as it enables students to acquire specialised knowledge and qualifications faster and in a practice-oriented way in a real professional environment. This allows them to successfully enter the profession they have mastered after finishing school,’ the Austrian ambassador said. ‘This joint focus on the best possible training of professionals is in the interests of both parties. Today we have once again seen the good relations between Austria and Bulgaria, which are also reflected in the economy. Technical qualifications that meet company requirements are one of the keys to success — for employees and companies alike. Austria and Bulgaria are also close partners in terms of dual training’, emphasized H. E. Andrea Ikić-Böhm.
‘For nine years now, Austrian and international companies have invested money, time and energy as part of our dual training project in Bulgaria. The most important is the end result — an investment in education is an investment in the future,’ said Philippe Kupfer, Commercial Counsellor at the Austrian Embassy in Bulgaria.
‘Minister Stojanov’s visit to a leading and stable Austrian company operating in Bulgaria — the logistics giant Gebrueder Weiss is an important signal for the Austrian economy here and our dual training project. Every signal, every support helps us in our efforts to create the necessary qualifications for the country and the companies’, the Austrian Embassy in our country further said.
‘Gebrueder Weiss GmbH is part of the Gebrueder Weiss Holding AG and is the oldest transport company in the world. The company is also one of the founders of the Austrian project Dual Training in Bulgaria. Project GODUAL is part of the international initiative GO-INTERNATIONAL of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Economics and the Austrian Chamber of Commerce. Its aim is to provide the necessary qualified personnel for the business through better quality vocational education in Bulgaria. Within the project, for the school year 2022/2023 alone, more than 1150 Bulgarian students from 30 schools in 15 different specialties are involved.